Missing in Action
by NancyBG-OldMaidWhovian
Summary: Amy and her gang are hot on the trail of a missing Doctor. Can't they find him before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

Doctor Who: Missing in Action

Chapter 1

"I couldn't believe it! There you were, Amy, pootling about town, being carried in the palm of this enormous alien lumberjack!"Rory said, laughing at the memory, "Oh, the look on your face!"

Amy and Rory came bounding into the TARDIS control room in jeans, tee shirts and light jackets, still toweling off their wet hair. They'd just been for a quick swim in the pool, a bit of relaxation after yet another hair-raising adventure with the Doctor. Having changed out of their swimsuits, they thought they'd go and see what the Doctor was up to.

"Yeah well," Amy shrugged, "how was I to know that accepting a cup of coffee from a gargantuan lumberjack was the equivalent of a marriage contract? Would you have told him 'no'?'" Rory opened his mouth, but Amy crossed her arms and, fixing him with her eyes, shook her head. "Don't even think about saying you would, Rory. I'm _your_ wife, remember?" Rory silently nodded, wisely deciding to keep his mouth shut.

Flipping the towel from her wet hair, Amy threw it at Rory. He caught it, and frowned at her, as she ran her fingers through her damp hair, finger-combing out the tangles. "Let me borrow your comb, please?"

Rory dig into his back jeans pocket and handed her the comb. That's when he noticed the Doctor. He was stood motionless before the console, staring blankly into space. Rory was about to ask the Doctor if everything was alright, when Amy interrupted him. .

Sighing, she said, "I mean, it's not like the Doctor gives out some kind of alien tourist guide to his companions. Do this, don't do that. Don't accept coffee from friendly aliens wearing plaid flannel shirts and carrying big axes." She snorted crossly at her husband, suddenly feeling a bit miffed. "For all the help you were. You were too busy playing with that giant blue ox, to notice I was being carried away to a wedding chapel."

"I wasn't playing with it, Amy." Rory told her, leaving the two damp towels over a safety rail to try. "I was busy trying to wipe off all the drool and ox snot it was dripping on me. Why else do you think I suggested we go for a swim when we got back to the TARDIS?"

"You mean, you let me swim in a pool full of ox snot?" Amy said, swatting him on the arm. "One word, Rory: Ewww—!"

"Oh, I dunno'." The Doctor said, as he suddenly shifted out of his trance and began puttering around the console. Amy and Rory were leaning against the safety rail, watching him. "Ox drool makes an excellent hair gel. Especially on a cold, snowy planet like Lakelandia. Not so sure about the cattle boogies though." He pondered, tilting his head. "Maybe use it for glue, in a pinch?"

"Again." Amy sniffed. "Ew—."

"So where to now, Doctor?" Rory asked with a grin, rubbing his hands together. He decided that he really didn't want to think about cattle snot glue. "No more planets with drooling beasties, I hope."

"I thought I'd take you and Amy to see Trifectagama Nebula." The Doctor said, returning the grin. "It's about to explode, but before it does, it gives off the most beautiful array of colours—ers—ers—ers-ers-ers. Colours."

With raised eyebrows, Amy and Rory looked at each other, then back to the Doctor, who, despite briefly repeating himself like a scratched phonograph record, continued on with the conversation as if nothing had happened.

"Think of the Northern Lights." He chortled, his hands giving expansive, gleeful gestures, "Well, not the Northern Lights, but something like that, well, not at all like that, really. Maybe more like fireworks on bonfire night. Well, not like that either. Just trust me, you'll love it! I'm telling you, you've never see...een...een...een..." He looked up at them with a disconcerted expression. "Oh dear."

Amy and Rory looked on, mouths agape in shock, as the Doctor suddenly grew semi-transparent, flickered several times like a video image, then winked out of existence.

Without warning, a klaxon began to sound and the control room went dark. Sparks began to fly from the console. Rory had to hold on tight to Amy, as they were thrown about, with the TARDIS quickly spinning out of control through the space-time vortex.

"What's happening? Where's the Doctor?" Amy yelled, trying not to be pitched into one of the holes set into the TARDIS floor.

"I don't know, Amy!" Rory shouted back, one hand on the safety rail, the other hand firmly gripping his wife's arm. "Just try to hold on!"

"Ror-eeee!" Amy cried out, as yet another explosion, this one from beneath the console, sent sparks across the control room.

"It's going to be alright, Amy." Rory told her, trying to seem calmer than he actually was.

"Like, how would you know?" She spat out at him.

"I...don't?" Rory answered honestly, trying his best to stay upright, but, like his wife, not always succeeding. "But, I'm sure it will be, Amy. The Doctor wouldn't just leave us here to die. The best thing is to try and stay calm and not panic."

"Too late." Amy responded through gritted teeth, her white-knuckled hand gripping the safety rail for all it was worth. "Passed panic quite some time ago. Now completely terrified."

Yet, even as Amy spoke, a big red button popped up on the console, just below the monitor screen. It began flashing. Across the screen, words began scrolling in big, dark block letters: _"In An Emergency Press The Big Red Button! I Mean NOW, Amy!"_

Giving Rory a surprised glance, Amy shrugged and threw herself against the console. She braced up against it to keep her balance while the ship tossed and turned like a sleeper having bad dreams. Her hand slammed down on the button. As abruptly as it began, the ship righted itself and started flying normally.

They looked up, startled, to once again see another flickering, semi-transparent image of the Doctor. Only this one was only waist high. It seemed as if it was being projected from somewhere beneath the decking, right through the transparent perspex floor. The Doctor turned and smiled at them.

"Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope!" The Doctor said in a falsetto voice. Then he wriggled with glee and straightened his bow-tie. "I always wanted to do that!" He chuckled. Clearing his throat, the Doctor suddenly became more serious. "Sorry. Back to business." He still smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in it.

"This is Emergency Protocol Seventeen." The Doctor informed them. "Apparently, Emergency Protocol Sixteen, the four-dimensional fully interactive holographic image of me has failed, triggering the emergency backup system. If you're seeing this, either I've died without regenerating, or I've somehow been separated from the TARDIS and am unable to return."

Amy stared at Rory, panic once again rising in her eyes.

"Amy," The Doctor said, "Rory's right. For a change..."

"Oy!" Rory uttered in protest. Amy elbowed him in the ribs and shushed him.

"...there's no need to panic." The Doctor assured them. "Amy, I need you to press the green button just to the right of the typewriter thingy. The one next to the purple button."

"Why you? I'm the man of the family." Rory whinged.

"Not now, Rory." Amy muttered crossly.

"Make sure you press the green button." The Doctor went on, "Not the purple one."

"Why can't I be the one to press the green button?" Rory whined again.

"Shut up, Rory!" Amy and the Doctor said, simultaneously.

"Oh great! Being told to shut up in stereo." Rory mumbled, throwing his arms up in the air. "How does he know when to do that?"

"Because you're Rory." Amy said, turning her head to frown at him. "Now be quiet so I can listen to what he's saying."

"As I was saying, Amy, before Rory started whining like a little girl..."

"Oy!" Rory shouted again. "What is this? National Let's Take The Mickey Out On Rory Day?"

"... If Rory would be quiet for a moment, I need to tell you that I really wouldn't recommend pressing the purple button." The Doctor continued, as Amy looked on. "If you accidentally press the purple button instead of the green one, it'll cause the space-time vortex to implode, thereby destroying the entire universe. Either that, or you'll blow a fuse in the auxiliary rift stabilizer, causing a massive power cut in Cardiff. I mean, who can remember what all those buttons are for, after nine hundred some-odd years?" The Doctor's image shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Amy moaned impatiently to the image. "Don't touch the purple button. Got it. Moving on, Doctor. What happens if I press the green button, then?"

"Don't be so impatient, Amy. I'm getting to that bit." The Doctor sniffed. "The green button is progammed to have the TARDIS return you to your own time stream. Though," he said apologetically, "I'm afraid I can't guarantee that you'll end up in Leadworth. I do hope for your sake, that it won't be someplace like Fargo, North Dakota. Or Belgium. Or, a certain pole dancing bar in Milton Keynes." His image actually blushed. Then, the Doctor smiled warmly at them. "Anyway, enough of the chit-chat. You both take care of yourselves, eh? Oh, and thank you, both. For everything. Especially you, Amelia Pond. You were amazing. Have a good life."

As the Doctor's image faded out, Amy pressed the yellow button. The control room lights came back on, and the central column of the TARDIS began rising and falling with its normal wheezing regularity. Moments later, the time rotor stopped.

Rory looked at Amy. "Well, we've landed." He said redundantly.

"I think I've managed to work that out for myself, Rory." Amy said, her gaze shifting towards the doors apprehensively. "But, where? Where have we landed?"

"Only one way to find out." Rory said, heading for the TARDIS doors.

Through the open TARDIS door, the pair of them saw that they seemed to have ended up in some alley. It was night. In the chill raw air, a drizzling rain came down. Damp and moss slimed brick walls, occasionally papered with concert posters and marred by graffiti. The wet pavement near the alley's entrance dimly reflected the orange glow of street lamps. Red bin bags full of refuse, discarded beer bottles and cigarette ends littered the floor. Not far away, came the noise of people laughing and shouting. All this, against the backdrop of the deep, primeval heartbeat throb of rock music coming from somewhere nearby.

"I'm guessing we're on Earth, at any rate." Rory said, looking about curiously. "I think I recognize the label on that beer bottle over there. _Tennant's Ale._ Wherever we are, let's just hope the natives are friendly." He muttered. "Because I just realized I don't have any cash on me. I'm afraid we may have a long walk home, Amy." He looked around uncertainly. "Unless Leadworth has suddenly developed into a popular clubbing area—which, if you ask me, is about as likely as the Tories wanting to give more assistance to people on the dole."

"We're not going home, Rory." Amy said stubbornly. "We've got to find out what happened to the Doctor. And I'm not leaving here until we do...wherever 'here' is. Though something about this place does somehow seem familiar."

"It should, Amy. You're in Glasgow." Came a woman's voice from the other side of the TARDIS.

"River!" Amy shouted gladly, as River stepped into view. "Oh my God, am I glad to see you!"

"Glasgow?" Rory said, making a face.

"Don't tell me. Is the Doctor in trouble again, already?" River said, after embracing Amy in a hug. She had tiara in her hair, and was wearing a very expensive looking long black and silvery satan evening gown, complete with matching elbow length black gloves. "I only just left him an hour ago. He took me to the very first performance of Mozart's 36th Symphony in Lintz." She smiled and shook her head. "What a disaster! Good thing we were there to sort things. Or it would have been the last performance. Never invite a Cyberman to the symphony." She told them. Rory simply nodded. He was never sure when River was being serious. "They're tone deaf, you know. Anyhow, I decided to nip over to my favourite pub for a post-concert cocktail, before heading back to my prison cell. They make the best whiskey sour I've ever had. So there I am, walking down the street, and what do I find waiting for me? I'm telling you, no rest for the wicked!"

Taking a breath, her face then grew more somber. "Tell me. What happened to the Doctor, Amy?"

"The Doctor's gone, River." Amy told her. "One minute he was there, then next...I don't know. He sent us back to Earth. But, we can't just leave him out there on his own!"

"Right, then." River said, grinning broadly. Taking Amy and Rory by the arms, she steered them back into the TARDIS. "Let's go play Where in the World is the Doctor, shall we?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was dark. That was the first thing the Doctor noticed. Was he blind, then? Or wasn't there any light where he was? Groggily he shifted his sore body, letting out a small groan as stiff joints cracked painfully. Time Lord's didn't get arthritis, but the way his body felt at the moment, you'd never know that. The surface he was lying on was hard and cold. Possibly cement or permacrete, he pondered idly. He'd woken up just seconds ago, bound tightly with what felt like some sort of thin metal cables. As his senses slowly returned, the Doctor realized that he couldn't see because he'd had some sort of hood thrown over his head.

"Oy!" he called out, "What's with the hood? My face isn't that bad, is it? I rather like this face. It has character, and might I even say, a certain measure of pizazz. It's very cool, this face."

No one answered him. His voice, muffled though it was, seemed to bounce back at him, almost leaving an echo behind. An empty room then, thought the Doctor. Shimmying his body backwards, the Doctor eventually found a wall. Grunting with the effort, he inched his back up the wall, until he was in a sitting position. Which wasn't easy, as the cables seemed to become even tighter, every time he moved. Still, the activity helped to restore his circulation. His feet and hands had become slightly numb, from the inactivity. Which must mean that he'd been out of it for quite a while, the Doctor reckoned.

The last thing that he remembered was coming back to the TARDIS with Rory and Amy, after dealing with that amorous lumberjack in the backwoods of Lakelandia. They'd decided to relax by going for a swim, and to pass the time, he was watching the football on the monitor screen. He was yelling his displeasure at one of the officials, whom he felt had made a completely rubbish call. Then, without warning, he'd been enveloped by a bright white light in middle of saying something quite rude in old high Galifreyan. Only to wake up here. Wherever 'here' was.

"That's it!" The Doctor shouted out loud. "Transmat beam!"

Then he fell silent. That should be impossible, in the TARDIS, though. The last time that had happened...

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. Please. Not them. Not again." The Doctor whispered to himself, his hearts beating just a little faster. A cold finger of fear slowly walked its way up his spine. He tried his best to ignore it.

As if in answer to his worst suspicions, a voice abruptly echoed back to him from somewhere:

"Doc-tor!"

###

Once inside the TARDIS, River shut the door and went into the interior of the ship without another word to Amy or Rory. Amy gave Rory a puzzled look, and he simply shrugged his shoulders in an '_How should I know_?' gesture.

"Erm—just make yourself at home, River." Amy called out.

"Thanks, I will!" Came her shout from somewhere through the doorway.

"Shall I put on a pot of tea?" Amy asked sarcastically, standing with her arms akimbo on her hips, eying the doorway.

"No dear, can't stand the stuff. I wouldn't say no to a pot of Costa coffee, though, Amy." River called back. "Extra cream, no sugar, ta."

River came bounding back into the room. She'd changed out of the gown, and was now wearing more practical beige and black futuristic combat fatigues.

"Where did you find those?" Amy asked, askance.

"TARDIS wardrobe, of course." River told her. "I always keep something extra on board. You know, to change into just in case some giant alien animal dribbles snot on me." She said, glancing at Rory.

"Is it that obvious? Do really I smell like cow snot?" He asked anxiously, sniffing his sleeves and armpit.

"Nothing to worry about, Rory." River said, smiling mischievously at him. "Gives you a manly man smell."

Rory grimaced. Amy was trying hard not to laugh. She gave Rory a consoling pat on the back. "You're fine, Rory. You...manly man, you."

Looking down at her clothes, River said,"Anyway Amy, it was either wear this, or Zena's warrior princess get up. And you know, I'd rather not have a wardrobe malfunction in the middle of a rescue. Although..it might serve as a good distraction, in the right company."

"How can we find the Doctor?" Rory asked. "We don't know how to fly the TARDIS."

"Oh, but I do." River responded smugly.

"Figures you'd know how to fly the TARDIS." Amy stated begrudgingly, feeling an unbidden jealousy rising within her. "When did the Doctor teach you to do that?"

River just looked at them knowingly, and, winking, patted her finger beside her nose.

"Yeah, we know." Amy sighed.

She and Rory looked at each other and said simultaneously. "Spoilers."

"While I was back there," River went on to explain, "I was also back there borrowing the Doctor's hair brush."

She showed them the hair brush she was holding. "It contains the Doctor's unique DNA pattern. The TARDIS is programmed to home in on that, in case of an emergency recall. Which he never uses, of course. Too safe for him, I suppose. I can use it to trace his whereabouts. At least I can, if he's still inside the time stream, and in the known universe."

Holding up the brush, River pulled a strand of hair from it. She looked at it distastefully and tsked. "That man has way too much of a fixation on using hair gel in his younger regenerations. I can't wait till' he grows up." She said, putting the hair down on the console and wiping her fingers on her pants. Amy noticed that they left a greasy smudge.

"That one hair will help us to locate the Doctor?" Rory asked, looking over River's shoulder.

"Yes." River nodded. She'd placed the hair on a flat disc on the console, and was now busy pushing a few buttons and toggling some switches. "Either that, or find us a really good hairdresser."

A steady bleeping came from the console. River flicked on the monitor screen. On it, was a map of a certain section of the universe, along with words in Galifrey's unique language. They always reminded Amy of the swirling spirals she used to draw with a plastic thing that came in some kid's drawing kit her mum had bought her one Christmas. She always suspected her mum bought her things like that, in hope of taking her mind off of her imaginary raggety Doctor.

Punching in some codes on the typewriter, River watched the monitor as it narrowed down to one particular section of the map. Suddenly, the area in space came into greater detail. It was a map of a galaxy. Mostly it was dark, but tiny pinprick dots were, Amy guessed, stars. The larger dots were probably planets or moons. There weren't very many of those, she noticed.

All of the sudden, a red dot flashed on the screen, on top of one particular planet. Amy heard River gasp when she brought up the specifics of the planet.

"No, it can't be!" She said in a whisper, stepping back from the console, staring at the monitor screen. Amy was startled to see her looking so pale and frightened.

"What?" A suddenly alarmed Rory and Amy asked together.

Looking at them somberly, River said quietly, "Maybe I better take you home, and do this on my own."

"What is it?" Amy demanded. "Tell me, River!"

"That planet he's on, is home to one of the Doctor's most dangerous enemies." River answered in a whisper. "I don't know if anyone can save him, this time."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Doc-tor!" He stared intently into the darkness when he heard that voice. Though the Doctor could not see a thing, he frowned with concern. A unique accent he had not heard since his second regeneration. Sibilant and cultured, yet at the same time it was both alien and guttural. Like some high born courtier trying to speak while someone was strangling his throat. It was the voice of an old and dangerous enemy from his past. A race every bit as powerful as the Time Lords. But, how could that be? The race he was thinking of were long gone.

Up until the Last Great Time War began, the Doctor's people normally remained neutral in regards to overseeing the affairs of other planets and species. Despite a cruel and war-like past, the Time Lords became content to only observe the wonders, struggles and changes occurring in all of space and time. They could control the opening and closing of doors to other universes and realities if they chose to, but mostly they were content to merely watch and record what they saw.

The Time Lords could have easily become one of the most powerful and manipulative species in the history of the universes. But, somewhere along the path of their evolution, the greatest Time Lord of them all, Rassilon himself, realized the potential trap that lay in coveting the sort of power that their species could wield. A trap that could ultimately lead, not only to their own downfall, but possibly to the very end of time itself.

Therefore, instead of succumbing to the temptation of using their power over time as a plaything, Rassilon lead the Time Lords down the path of pacifism. They became the custodians and historians of Time, instead of petty, self-destructive tyrants. Yet sometimes, when either Galifrey or even time itself was being threatened, even the most hardcore element of dovish Time Lords saw no choice but to intervene.

Usually, they did so indirectly, using outside "agents" such as the Doctor, to keep their hands clean. In this case though, the crime this race had committed was so serious, that the Doctor's people felt they had no recourse but to personally punish the transgressors.

The Doctor's frown deepened, as he remembered how the High Council had so abruptly and arrogantly plucked him away from his companions, Jamie and Zoe. It was right as he'd been treating them to a Pet Shop Boys concert. He unconsciously smiled at the memory. Jamie, whom the Doctor had plucked from the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden, had sat with his arms crossed making a face at all the noise. He said he didn't care for the music because there weren't any pipers in the band. The Doctor had commiserated, saying he thought they could use a recorder in the group, as well.

But Zoe, who was from the future, loved it. She clapped and cheered just as wildly as the rest of the young audience. He was about to take the two of them backstage after the concert to meet the band, when suddenly he was whisked away by transmat.

Reluctant to help the Time Lords at first, the Doctor soon changed his mind. By threatening to take away his TARDIS forever, the Lord President of Galifrey had blackmailed the Doctor into acting on his planet's behalf. The Doctor snorted in derision. The noise sounded loud in the empty room. He would have interfered anyway, if he'd known up front what it was all about. But, the Time Lords being a devious and secretive lot, had left it up to him to find that out on his own. Which he ultimately did.

When the Time Lord's enemy was finally brought to trial on Galifrey, the first consensus of the high council was complete annihilation of the species. Appalled, the Doctor argued passionately against genocide. He won his case, and the species was instead exiled back to the very dawn of time, to the farthest reaches of another universe known as E-space. There, they were to live out their lives on a primitive, uninhabited planet. They were to be confined there until the natural end of time, without any access to any sort of technology, and only the barest of essentials to keep them alive.

"Doc-tor, rest assured that you will not be harmed." The cultured, rasping voice spoke again. "We regret any discomfort you may be experiencing. It it for our own safety, not yours."

"Blimey," the Doctor replied with a wiggle, testing the cables which bound him, "Then I have to say, your health and safety rules are a bit over the top, if you ask me. I'm trussed up tighter than a Christmas turkey. You must think I'm one dangerous desperado." He paused for a double heart beat, tilting his head. "Either that, or you're planning on stuffing me and roasting me for dinner."

"We brought you here, Doc-tor, because we were afraid you would not come if we asked. We feared you would still wish to punish our race, and once again exile us back into the darkness." The voice said.

"Seems to me you lot are afraid of a lot of things. Which, unless I'm mistaken—and I rarely ever am because I'm a genius, is known as paranoia." The Doctor said harshly to the unseen speaker. "Though I suppose I can understand why, given your past history." He added, not unkindly.

"It is, as you say, our past history which makes us fear you, Doc-tor." The voice said. "We have come so very far. We are so few now, and weary of the chase. The Howling never ceases to pursue us. We have been running for over a thousand years. Now, we have decided to stop."

"Stopping is good. Especially if you're on a runaway train. Or driving a Toyota." The Doctor said, tilting his head up towards the ceiling. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you lot untie me? I promise I'll be good. Then we can all sit down to a nice cuppa and a friendly little chat. I'll even go so far as to play mother and serve the biscuits. Oooh, I do hope you have some chocolate biccies. I love those."

"You would speak with us?" Said the voice uncertainly.

"Yeah, why not? We can pass around the peace pipe and have a nice pow-wow, and can tell me all about your plans. Then, if I believe that you have changed, and you are now the good guys wearing the white hats, we'll saddle up and ride." The Doctor said genially. Then his voice became dead sober. "On the other hand, heed this warning. If I find that you are still nothing but a mob of time-destroying evil megalomaniacs, I'll stop you. Forever, this time."

The Doctor's mind was busy trying to work out what this 'Howling' could be, even as he smiled and spoke into the darkness. "So what d'ya say? Deal?"

"No!" Came another voice. A female one, this time. "We cannot trust him, Altaar! He speaks falsely, this one. Remember what he and the other Time Lords did to our ancestors!"

"Silence, Margatha." Said the original voice. "I am still leader here. I have already made my decision, and it is final. I will trust this man. I will allow the Time Lord to hear our story, and then he will decide of his own free will, whether or not to assist us. If that is alright with you, Doctor?"

"Well you see, that would be nice, Altaar old son. Thing is, I do seem to be rather tied up at the moment." The Doctor reminded him. "One would think that allowing me my 'free will' would go down a lot better, if you released me from this cell, mmm—?"

Before the voice could answer, the room the Doctor was in was abruptly rocked by an explosion. The Doctor had instinctively ducked. As the debris settled, he sat upright again, blinking his eyes against the sudden glare of light coming through the now open door.

"Hello, sweetie!" Came a familiar voice.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

His face lit up with an enormous grin, the Doctor looked up to see River. She was standing framed in the doorway, gun in hand, the smoke of the explosion dissipating behind her. And, there, coming through the smoke, coughing and waving their hands, were also Amy and Rory.

"I knew if I waited long enough," the Doctor greeted them, " I'd be _'bound_' to say hello to you three sooner or later. Ha-ha! Did you get that, River?"

"Um-hmm." She said, "And that joke's older than you are." She was clearly unimpressed. "Word of advice, Doctor. Don't go on X Factor with that repertoire. No one would ever take you seriously again."

River strode over to a frowning Doctor, who gave her a hurt look. She looked down at him with a cheeky grin. "Oooh, you know, this reminds me of that time I found you at that seedy hotel in Las Vegas , and you were lying on this heart-shaped bed all covered with...oh, sorry. Spoilers."

"Are you alright, Doctor?" Amy asked, as she and Rory came to stand beside River. "We were worried half to death about you."

"Actually, you were worried half to death. I was just very concerned." Rory corrected her. Getting a jab in the ribs from his wife, for his remark. "No. I mean, yeah, right. I was really...very worried, Doctor." Rory hastily corrected himself.

"Doctor,." River whispered urgently, her demeanor becoming more serious. "There's something I need to tell you. It's important."

"Look River, if it's about that Cyberman, I totally understand. I mean, maybe it was a bit kinky..." The Doctor began to say.

"Nobody move!" Came Margatha's voice from the doorway. "If you move, I'll shoot to kill. The Doctor first."

River, Amy and Rory all stood very, very still.

"And don't turn around." Margatha added.

"Well make up your mind." The Doctor said chidingly. "How can they turn around if they can't move?" He beamed a smile up at River, who was blocking his view of the doorway. "Is this a party game? I like Party games. Simon Says. Wonderful!"

"Quiet!" Said the newcomer.

"Nah. Don't think so." Replied the Doctor. "For one thing, you forgot to say, '_Simon says_.' You're really rubbish at this, aren't you? I wouldn't recommend you doing children's parties. They'd all end up throwing cake at each other and going home."

In response, Margatha shot a hole in the floor, only a few centimeters from Amy's feet. Amy gave a frightened shriek, automatically leaping back from the smoking black hole in the floor.

"Amy!" Rory shouted with alarm, placing his arms protectively around her shoulders, and pulling her towards him.

"Doctor. I really think you should do what the nice lady with the outer-spacey ray gun says." Amy told him. Darting an angry glance down at the blackened hole near her feet, she added, "At least, for now."

"I'm warning you, Margatha." The Doctor said, his eyes darkening and narrowing with anger. "If any harm comes to my friends..."

"It's alright, Doc-tor." Came Altaar's more reasonable voice from the doorway. "Stand down, Margatha. We have no need for your weapons or threats here."

"I'm telling, you, Altaar. We cannot trust this Doctor." They heard Margatha protest.

A light came on in the room. "It's alright everyone. Let's stay calm." Altaar reassured them, acting the part of the diplomat. "You will not be harmed. I give you my personal guarantee. Come, Doc-tor. Let me release you from your cell, so we can have our little talk. That is, if you're still agreeable after what Margartha just did. For shame, young lady. You broke your promise to leave your weapons on the ship. Have you young people no sense of respect or honour anymore? Tsk-tsk-tsk, what are the universes coming to, these days?

River, Amy and Rory all turned to face the doorway. As they moved aside, this gave the Doctor a view of his kidnappers for the very first time. What the three of them saw were a pair of humanoid aliens with tall, slightly domed heads and long ginger coloured hair done up in dreadlocks. Their noses and mouths were just like any other humans, and the pair's almond shaped eyes were a piercing blue. But there, all semblance to Earth humans ended. That's because these people had leathery orange skin, and six long, thin webbed fingers.

Their clothing reminded Rory of something out of a sixties or seventies science-fiction television programme.

The man, whom appeared to be quite old, stood tall and dignified. He wore a black Cossack style shirt with wine red trim and silver buttons. Around his neck was a jeweled chain of office, seemingly made of rubies and diamonds. Across his chest was a wide black leather belt studded with decorative silver badges of office. Attached to this on his left side, was a black leather scabbard carrying what appeared to be an old-fashioned rapier with an engraved silver hilt. He also had what seemed to be some kind of communications device strapped to his wrist. His trousers were well-tailored with flared bell bottoms and a wine red stripe going down the outside leg. On his feet he wore shiny black ankle high boots.

The woman seemed tense and impatient. She was considerably younger than the man, and much less formally attired. She was wearing dark teal blue, low-cut form-fitting top, trimmed in black. The tight black skirt went only halfway down to her knees.

Rory stared unconsciously at alien's shapely legs, which were encased in sexy black tights. Until Amy cleared her throat and nudged him. Unlike Altaar, Margatha wore dark burgundy leather knee-high boots. Around her waist was strapped a utility belt with assorted pouches and a holster for her proton pistol. She too, had some sort of device strapped to her left wrist. Amy noticed a few decorative gold and black jet bangles on the right wrist, which seemed to be Margartha's only concession to decoration.

Altaar strode over to the Doctor and released him from his bonds. River stepped forward and helped a stiff and sore Doctor to his feet. Making a face, he gave out a small groan and rubbed his back.

"You're going to do your back in again, if you keep getting yourself tied up and thrown into dungeons." River lightly scolded him.

"I've never hurt my back." The Doctor said indignantly.

"You will do." River said knowingly.

"Are you alright, Doctor?" Altaar asked anxiously.

"Yeah, cheers, Altaar. No worries." He said, already striding towards the door.

Then he stopped so abruptly that Amy, who was following behind him, almost crashed into his back. She quickly stepped backwards and rolled her eyes at Rory. He shrugged his silent agreement.

Whirling about, the grinned and pointed his two fingers at the alien man. "Thanks for releasing me Altaar. You da' man! So tell me, man, where can we go for our little schmooze session? I'm burning with curiosity to know just what was so urgent that you needed to kidnap me right out of my own TARDIS." Again, he turned on his heels and brushing past Margatha, headed out the door. "That was some fearsome technology, by the way. I thought only the Daleks could do that."

Unnoticed by anyone else, Altaar and Margatha both exchanged startled glances. They watched as the Doctor turned right through the doorway.

"Wrong way, Doctor." Margatha said sneeringly. "How do you pilot your ship with such a poor sense of direction?"

The Doctor choose to ignore the question, as well as the low snorts and chuckles coming from Amy, Rory and River. He simply did a clipped about-face and carried on walking.

They were in a mid-sized conference room. There was a long black table with a built-in computer work surface. It was surrounded by standard office chairs. Around the drab, gray-walled room were a few small neutral coloured sofas and some exotic potted plants. Amy thought it looked boring. Not at all what she thought the inside of an alien space complex would be like. Except for the futuristic table, the plants and the view, it could have been a room in any in any office block on Earth.

There was a large window overlooking the barren rocky surface of the planet. The Doctor was about to sit down, when suddenly he ran to the window.

"Oh no!" He cried out in dismay.

The Doctor was stood there, face pressed up against the finito glass, like a child looking through a toy shop window at Christmas. Only, it wasn't a toy he was staring at out on the planet's surface. It was a Dalek battle saucer.

"That important thing I was trying to tell you about, back there?" River said quietly, as she stood behind him. She was also staring nervously out the window. "That was it."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Doctor simply stood there, speechless, for minutes on end. The sight of the huge bronze coloured ship sitting out there was the last thing he'd expected to see. Was this yet another devious trap for him, then?. Even powered down and without a Dalek in sight, it still exuded a chilling menace. This was the old enemy that forced the Doctor into eventually committing the genocide of his own people, in order to save time and everything that ever was, from ceasing to exist. This was the race that had almost destroyed him, without ever laying a finger on him.

"Doctor?" Came Amy's voice behind him. He felt her hand gently touch his arm. "Doctor, come on, it'll be alright. Snap out of it. Say something." She pleaded.

Taking a deep breath, the Doctor turned and faced her. Looking down into her eyes, he forced himself to smile and said, "I bought myself a milk cow, but then came a terrible blow, for when I went to milk her, I found I'd bought a cow named 'Joe.'"

"Huh?" Amy asked, completely taken aback. "What _are_ you on about, Doctor?"

"You wanted me to say something, Amy." The Doctor said innocently, cocking a mischevious eyebrow at her. "I was only doing what you asked."

The Doctor's three friends looked at each other and shrugged. Apparently he was off on one of his tangents again. Together, they knew him well enough by now, to stand back and let the Doctor blow off some steam.

"OK, OK," he said, walking up to Altaar and Margatha with a new-found fire in his eyes, "just how many Academy Award nominations were you lot trying for, anyway?" A very miffed Doctor railed at them, "Cos you've just put on one hell of a fine performance. Had me going for a few minutes there. And believe me, that's not something that happens every day. So, here I am." The Doctor spread his arms wide. "A prisoner of the rag-tag descendants of one of Galifrey's oldest enemies, the Temporal Overlords. I'm the big bonus round prize. Better than a new car and a trip to Epcot, me." He angrily strode over to Altaar and got in the old man's face. "So don't leave me standing here in suspense, Altaar old chap. When do I get turned over to your Dalek masters, ey?"

"You are not a prisoner, Doc-tor. Because that is not a Dalek ship." Altaar said matter-of-factly, diplomatically refusing to show any reaction to the Doctor's tirade.

"Oh really?" The Doctor said with mild sarcasm. He began pacing the floor, occasionally throwing glances out the window. "That's nice. Because it certainly looks like a Dalek ship. It smells like a Dalek ship—all that technological savvy, and you'd think they'd invent deodorant by now. I'll bet you, that if I ran my tongue over it, it would even taste like a Dalek ship. Then tell me, Altaar, if that out there isn't a Dalek ship, who's is it? Darth Vader's? And don't tell me it is, because I'd recognize his ship anywhere. Last time I saw it, it had this big nuclear-neon sign flashing on its side that said: '_Vader's Intergalactic Oyster Bar and Fencing School_."

"Do stop babbling like an idiot, Doctor. You don't know what you are talking about." Margatha sneered, crossing her arms and looking down her nose at him. "You're totally wrong about that ship out there."

"Am I? Am I?" He snorted at her.

"Calm down, Doctor. I know you're upset." River interceded.

"Me, upset? Me? Upset?" The Doctor sputtered, slightly nonplussed by this interruption of his tirade.

"You're repeating yourself, sweetie." She chided him gently.

"Meh, always do after I've had a curry." The Doctor said to her. He politely covered his mouth as he belched."'Scuse me."

Of course, he knew she was right. He was repeating his words like a little girl's talking doll. The Doctor didn't like sounding like a conservative politician. He only did that when he was getting flustered. With an effort, he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. The Doctor wondered briefly if there were any Dalek victim support groups out there in the universe.

"That is _our_ ship out there, Doc-tor." Altaar said, breaking into the Doctor's thoughts. The alien man sat down at the conference table, and indicated that the Doctor and the others should sit, as well. When everyone was seated, He instructed Margatha to bring refreshments. After she reluctantly left the room, Altaar continued the conversation. "The Daleks came upon us soon after we left E-Space. Our own ship crash landed on a large meteorite. We fought the Daleks for days, losing three quarters of our remaining population in the process. Males, females, the children to our greatest elders. The Daleks know not what mercy is."

"That's awful!" Amy said.

The Doctor had paused in mid-pace to listen to Altaar. Now he nodded gravely. "I know too well what they're like. And I'm truly very sorry for your loss." He told the man, though he didn't have to. His face clearly showed how the Doctor felt.

"In the end, we defeated them." Altaar sighed. "But, our ship was damaged beyond repair, with so few left alive who knew how to fix it. However, we did manage, after a fashion, to re-adapt the Dalek technology to suit our own species. Unfortunately, what we didn't know how to do, was fly the ship properly. We were once again forced to land the ship in this hostile environment, unlivable without special protective suits. We were lucky to find this old Andvarian mining complex. It allows us to survive in comparative comfort. And, it gives us some breathing space. For the time being, at any rate."

"As I said before, very impressive. If you're telling the truth. Assuming for the moment that you are, what is this 'Howling" you mentioned?" The Doctor asked.

"What was that?" River blurted out, appearing thunderstruck. "What did you say, Doctor?"

"What's the Howling?" Rory echoed. "I mean, I'm assuming that's not the name of some Scottish indie band."

"You've heard of it before?" The Doctor said, turning curiously to River. "Why have you heard of it, and I haven't?"

"Because I am sometimes a captive audience, my love. Gives me loads of time to listen to stories, catch up on my correspondence. Catch the latest episode of _Leverage_." River smiled. "One of my fellow prisoners told me about it." River said quietly. "It's one of those universal myths, Doctor. I was told that it's some kind of sentient weather phenomena. A black wind. It's said that comes and goes without warning. It can cross all of time and space in the winking of an eye. The Devouring Tornado, is what some people call it. Other cultures have other names for it: Howling, Reaper, Soul Stealer, the Demon of Klackner. It is said that it consumes all life forms, whenever it appears. Nothing can live in it's path."

"An evil wind?" The Doctor's eyes took on a mischievous glint.

"No, Doctor. Absolutely not. No fart jokes. Too easy." River scolded him.

The Doctor's face fell. "Yeah, you're right. Turning my serious adult expression back on now," he said. Which, true to his word, the Doctor promptly did.

"Oooh, that was a spooky story, River. " Amy commented. "Like the kind parents use to scare little children into cleaning their rooms and eating all their veg. I should remember that one, next time I'm sitting around a campfire at night."

"Foolish girl! It is no story." Margatha replied, coming into the room with a tray full of tea and biscuits. "I've seen it with my own eyes. It destroyed my whole village. All my family were taken by the Howling. Even our pets, livestock and crops were consumed."

"That's enough, Margatha. I allowed you to assist me only because that's what your father would have wanted. Now I must order you to remember your place, and show some respect to our guests. Otherwise, you may go back to the ship and wait for me there." Altaar admonished her.

"No. She should stay." Rory piped up. He blushed and looked uncomfortable when everyone turned to stare at him. "I—I mean," Rory said nervously, suddenly aware that maybe he might have spoken out of turn, "if she really has lost so much to this creature, maybe she, more than anyone here, has a right to sit here with us."

"Well, said, Rory." The Doctor spoke softly. He flashed Rory the kind of proud smile a parent might give a child who'd answered a quiz programme question correctly. The Doctor then turned to the alien man. "He's right, Altaar. Let her stay. See might be able to add some insight or details you may have forgotten. What happened after this creature attacked you?"

Before answering the Doctor, Altaar cast a warning glance at Margatha, which clearly told her to keep to her place.

Taking a sip of tea, he said, "After it destroyed our planet, it followed us from the depths of E-Space, all the way back to normal space. It took our best remaining scientists two years to calculate the coordinates to do so. In the meantime, this...thing, followed us from planet to planet. We did our best of course, to avoid inhabited worlds. Unfortunately, we weren't always successful" Altaar sad sadly, bending down, leaning his forearms on the table as if suddenly very tired.

The Doctor frowned deeply when he heard this, and his face took on a grave expression. But he said nothing. Waiting for Altaar to go on with his story, he nibbled absently on a biscuit.

"We've managed to outrun it so far, but we cannot escape it forever." Altaar continued. "We have already lost so many of our people. First to the Howling, then to the Daleks. Soon, I fear we may become an extinct species. We need to find a way to defeat the Howling. That's why we brought you here, Doctor. Anyone who could defeat our ancestors, may stand a chance with this evil creature."

Margatha served the tea and biscuits in silence. When finished, she sat beside Altaar. Casting an uncertain glance in Rory's direction, she turned away almost shyly, when Rory smiled at her. Instead, Margatha chose to pointedly stare at the Doctor with hostile, distrustful eyes.

Altaar was opening his mouth to say something, when suddenly he leaned forward and stared out the window. Margatha was also staring, a look of utter terror reflected in her eyes. The Doctor and his friends all turned around to see what they were looking at. River especially suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Why am I getting an uncomfortable feeling that something really bad is about to happen." The Doctor said tensely.

"Something wicked this way comes?" Amy suggested playfully. She couldn't see anything malevolent outside.

"Sweetheart, something bad always somehow happens around you." River shrugged. "You're a like 'bad stuff' magnet. Which is a lot a lot of fun, I have to say. Why do you think I keep hanging around you?"

All Amy could see, was that the wind was kicking up out there on the planet's surface. Great clouds of red and yellow dust swirled through the rock-strewn sandy ground. The enormous amber sun was still shining, yet there seemed to be a dark shadow falling across the valley near the Dalek saucer. That seemed odd. But then, Amy thought, this was an alien world. Who knew what the weather was like here.

"Wow...that looks...not good." Rory observed. "Glad I'm not out there."

"I guess you're in for a storm." Amy said, turning to look at Altaar. "Judging by how dry the ground is out there, looks like you could use a little rain."

"Amy." The Doctor said softly. He got up and looked intently out the window. "I don't think that's a storm."

"It's the Howling!" Margatha cried out, getting up for her chair and staring, terrified, out the window. "It has found us!"

"Our people. On the ship. They won't have a chance." Altaar whispered with horror.

"But, I don't see..." Amy began to say...then gasped. "Oh my god!"

The odd dark shadow Amy had seen falling over the little valley out on the surface of the planet, was changing. Slowly the shadow became more substantial. As they watched, it finally coalesced into a whirling black tornado. A natural tornado is part of storm clouds, but the sun was shining and the sky still blue. This thing was entirely on its own. The cloud was roiling, getting wider as it developed, until it was almost as wide across as the Dalek saucer. A black, sickly green and purple mass, made up of cyclonic gases, the tornado was occasionally punctured by electrical charges coming from somewhere within. .

As the group in the conference room watch, the tornado suddenly engulfed the Dalek ship.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The six of them stood before the conference room window, transfixed by the unspeakable horror taking place half a kilometer away on the planet's surface. Powerless to do anything, they could only watch. The Dalek ship was being swallowed whole by the tumescent twister.

Unlike normal tornadoes, which ripped apart anything in their paths, apparently whatever this one touched, simply vanished. Both inanimate objects and living flesh, inexorably sucked into the unstoppable funnel cloud. Then, as mysteriously as it had come, the thing lifted up and flattened out, only to fold into itself and disappear. Leaving nothing behind to show that it had ever been, but the scoured earth.

"How many of your people were on that ship?" The Doctor asked quietly, after a long pause of stunned silence.

"Fifty-three, including six families and all of our remaining technical support staff." Altaar murmured sadly, his hand reaching up to rub his domed forehead.

"You're race's exile has not been kind to you." The Doctor said, almost apologetically.

"No thanks to you, Time Lord!" Margatha spat out hatefully, fists clenched in anger. "Did you enjoy your triumph over my people?"

Eyes darkening, the Doctor rounded on her. "I never-ever-ever enjoy causing hurt or harm to anyone. Got that? Not even a Dalek, the most hateful creature in the whole of time and space. You weren't there, Margatha, you couldn't know what your people were like ten thousand years ago. Do you think I had a choice? Well, I didn't. My people forced me into that situation. But if you must know the truth, I would have stopped your people anyway, with or without the sanction of the High Council.

He felt River's cautionary hand on his elbow, trying to get him to calm down. "Easy, love." She whispered.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to Altaar. "I hope you will believe me when I say that I never wanted to see any of your people killed." The Doctor told him sincerely.

"I know, Doc-tor." Altaar said wisely, bowing his head. "Unlike my young...colleague, I believe the old story of how you fought against your people to keep them from annihilating our race. I'm sure you thought that the exile to E-space was punishment enough."

"Er—Doctor?" Said Rory.

"Later, Rory!" The Doctor admonished tersely. Looking down at his scuffed up boots, he jammed his hands in his pockets and sighed. Looking up, he sighed again, and tried to explain things to Altaar.

"You must understand, Altaar. I had to stop them. Any way I could." The Doctor said, as much to re-justify his past actions to himself, as to the two aliens standing before him. "The Temporal Overlords were going to destroy time itself. Unlike your ancestors, I respect time Altaar, am one with it. It's a part of who I am. It is the most precious thing in the universe to me. For anyone to become so arrogant as to think of obliterating time, is an abhorrence to me. To end all that is and ever was...well, I simply couldn't let that happen."

The Doctor paused briefly, unwilling to speak of his own real-life nightmare, unable to fully disguise the bitterness he still felt. Yet, knowing he owed it to these people to tell them the whole truth, he continued, "I even destroyed my own people to keep them from doing that. Twice."

"Ummm—Doctor." Interrupted Amy.

"In a minute, Amy." Came the Doctor's distracted reply.

"The Temporal Overlords are gone, Doc-tor." Altaar replied. "Many thousands of years ago, the last of member of the Inner Sanctum passed on. She took her selfish and evil views of time with her, I'm happy to say. We call ourselves simply the Temporals, now. We still have the ability to manipulate time—that's how we eventually defeated the Daleks. And that only took as long as it did, because we preferred to try other means to fight them, first. Over the last three thousand years, we have come to respect time, Doc-tor. The Temporals value all life, now. In many ways, it has almost become our religion. We meddle with time only as an absolute last resort."

River cleared her throat loudly. "Doctor, I really think you should..."

"Not now, River!" The Doctor said fussily, waving her off with his hands . "You used your time technology to defeat the Daleks. Why can't you use it on this Howling thing? No. Wait. Time out. Let's call for an instant replay on that last bit you told me. What exactly did you mean when you said 'meddle with time', Altaar?" The Doctor asked, his eyes narrowing.

Altaar was about to open his mouth to reply, when out of the blue, River discharged her gun into the ceiling. Everyone but her instinctively ducked. A very cross Doctor turned to bawl her out. River was standing there with raised eyebrows, a smirk on her face, holstering her gun. The thumb and index finger of her free hand was making a pointing gesture out the window.

"River, so help me, one of these days I'm going to take that gun away from you and..." Scowling at River Song, the Doctor turned to see what was so fascinating outside.

"Oh." He said softly.

Out on the planet's barren wastes, the Howling again had reappeared, roughly two kilometers from the building they were in. And it was headed towards them.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"We're dead! It is the end of the Temporals!" Cried Margatha.

"Hush, do not speak so, Margatha!" said Altaar. "Panic stops you from thinking, remember. There is an old saying on Sol Three. I believe it goes, 'where there's life, there's hope.' Doc-tor, we do have defensive shielding. It will not hold the Howling back for long, but it can discourage it for a short time."

"What sort of shielding?" The Doctor asked.

He'd pulled out his sonic screwdriver and was pointing it towards the Howling. It gave off a high pitched hum. Unfortunately, that only seemed to pull the living cyclone towards them at an even greater rate, as if it had been attracted to the sonic.

"Interesting." Was all the Doctor said, quickly shutting the device off and pocketing it.

"We have mis-phased passive time loop shielding." Altaar replied.

The angry black and purple tornado had paused in place, whirling up great gouts of dust from the surface, almost obscuring it. It's wide top seemed as if it was rearing up its head. Almost like the thing had temporarily lost the scent of its quarry. They collectively breathed a sigh of relief as it slowly moved away from the mining complex...but not far enough to make them feel safe. They watched as the bloated thing began what almost seemed like a search pattern.

"We're not out of the woods yet." The Doctor said. "That thing will be back. Possibly sooner than later. We must have that shielding up."

"But, I thought that sort of shielding technology was too dangerous to use. Even for the Time Lords." River cut in nervously. "It could rip a hole in the entire fabric of the universe."

"Not if one uses applied geometric algorithms, set against a specific number of resonating acoustic fractals." Margatha said matter-of-factly. "This stabilizes the shielding to ninety-nine point ninety-two percent.

"Wow, that's...groovy." Said an admiring Doctor. "In a really far-out and happenin' kind of way. Who thought of that one?"

"My late father developed it." Margatha said proudly.

"Well, he was mad as a march hare, then." The Doctor said tactlessly, rounding on her. "Because River's right. As amazing as that technology is, that other eight percent could end up unraveling the whole universe. And if the wrong party got their hands on it, it could become a hideously dangerous weapon. Very irresponsible, your dad."

Before Margatha could express her outrage though, the Doctor added, "Still, if it's the only thing we've got to stop that thing out there, then we have no choice but to employ it."

"That may prove difficult, Doctor." Altaar said.

"Oh great. I knew there would be a hitch to this plan." Rory complained, rolling his eyes.

"Shut up, Rory." Amy swatted him. "Have a little faith, why don't you? The Doctor will figure it out."

"The only one's who knew how to operate it, were all on the Dalek ship." Altaar told him.

"See, Amy? What'd I tell you?" Rory said to Amy, but not before quickly stepping back out of reach of her hand.

"Are you sure you're name isn't Thomas?" The Doctor asked Rory sarcastically. "As in doubting..." Then, he smiled at Altaar. "It's a good thing you've got me, then, isn't it?"

"Very well, Doc-tor. If you think you can get the shielding operational, I won't impede you further." Altaar said, bowing his head to the Doctor. "Margatha can show you the way to the security operations centre. And I trust that she will not waste valuable time arguing with you about it. I must beg your leave, in the meantime. I'd like to gather all the survivors together. I hold on to the faith that we may yet escape the Howling. We have to at least try. Is that not so, Doctor?"

"Quite right, Altaar. Very good plan. I love a good plan. Until they go wrong, that is. But hey-ho, that's what keeps life from getting dull.' He clapped his hands, rubbing them together in anticipation. "Three huzzahs for unpredictability."

A suddenly energized Doctor turned to his friends and said, "River, you and Doubting Thomas here...that's you, Rory..." Rory merely rolled his eyes at the ceiling, "... go with Altaar, see if you can help get his people to safety. Amy, you're with me."

Before he'd finished speaking, Altaar had already left the room, with Rory and River trailing behind him. River paused in the doorway and looked at the Doctor.

"I know telling you this is probably a waste of time, but you be careful." She said, giving him a wink before quickly scooting through the door to join the others.

A seething Margatha quickly lead the way out of the conference room door, the Doctor and Amy following close behind her.

"Security operations is not far, Doctor. You should have plenty of time to get the shielding activated...if even you can." The young alien woman said briskly, stalking the long corridor well ahead of the Doctor and Amy,.

"Another Doubting Thomas." The Doctor sighed, giving a resigned shrug. "There seems to be a surplus of them today."

"I believe you can do it, Doctor." Amy said positively.

"Well, of course you do." The Doctor said, as if she'd just stated something glaringly obvious. "You're Amelia Pond."

"This is a nice change, though."

"What is?" The Doctor asked.

"Walking instead of running." Amy answered.

"Maybe I'd better walk faster then, Pond."

Abruptly quickening his pace, the Doctor's long legs strode purposefully down the battleship gray hallway. Bustling along behind the Doctor, Amy suddenly gave a bemused snort.

"Doctor." She whispered. "Were you just checking out Margatha's bum?"

"No!" A shocked Doctor hissed back in protest. "No! I would never...I was just...checking to see if she had any weapons hidden back there. These Temporals as they call themselves now, were always a devious lot."

"You're blushing." She said with a barely hidden smirk.

"I most certainly am not, Pond! I'm probably just a bit flushed. Erm—is it hot in here, or is it me?"

"You were looking." Amy teased, eyeing the way Margatha's hips swayed seductively, as she strode down the long hallway. "I saw you. Admit it. Come on, Doctor. Alien or no, you're still a guy. It's programmed into your genetics. And your pants."

"Stop it, Amy! Now is neither the time or place. We're so not going there today."

"You sound like Rory when there's a football match on. OK, sorry." Amy quickly apologized, after the Doctor shot her a look.

"I admit," The Doctor conceded, "that female Overlords, er—I mean, Temporals, have always been known for their...ahem, extraordinary fitness. You should have seen their all female football team." The Doctor informed her. "They were known throughout the five galaxies for their beauty. Besides being the most popular calendar girls in the universe, they were also the best players. Oh, they were brilliant, Amy! Twenty wins, no loses, five years in a row. Of course, they were playing against all male leagues. Only team in history to play topless. That couldn't have been very pleasant in a scrum. At least, not for the women..."

"Oh come on Doctor. Topless football players? Now you're taking the mickey."

"I am not, Amy! I once met the team's goalie. She was one of the most stunningly gorgeous women I've ever known."

"Prettier than Cleopatra or Posh Spice?" Amy inquired skeptically, trying to ignore her rising jealousy.

"Most definitely. That woman absolutely took my breath away." The Doctor told her.

"Really?"

"Yeah." The Doctor nodded. "She hit me in the stomach with a football. That hurt. Couldn't touch my navel for a whole week."

Margatha had stopped before a heavy red door, marked "_Authorized Mining Personnel Only_" in black.

"Hoo-ray! Now that's my kind of door!.I mean, I'm always so definitely not authorized." The Doctor chortled. "Nor am I a miner." He added as an aside.

"No, but you do act like a child, sometimes." Amy muttered under her breath.

"That's 'miner', not '_mino_r', Pond."

"Didn't they already use that line in some comedy film?" Amy replied, watching as Margatha unlocked the door. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know where the alien woman in the tight-fitting uniform kept the key.

"Our technicians updated the mine's security operations to take on our own unique technology. I can show you where the controls are, so you can activate the shielding. Unfortunately, I lack the skills for operating the system. I'm afraid it requires both an advanced knowledge of transdimensional physics, and a very delicate touch. The metaphysical transduction barrier is very sensitive." Margatha begrudgingly admitted. "I hope you aren't half as awkward as you appear, Doctor."

The heavy metal door swung open on creaking hinges. The Doctor's jovial attitude didn't last long. As the door opened, his eyes went wide and he suddenly froze in place. Amy heard him take a sharp intake of breath. She peered between the Doctor and Margatha, into the room. Something told her she might not like what she saw, but Any's natural curiosity got the better of her. Standing there facing them was a lone Dalek, its gun pointing directly at them.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Margatha laughed, unable to hide her contempt. "Fool! Perhaps you are not so powerful as the legends would have it, Doctor. Not if you are so afraid of a dead Dalek."

Indeed, now the Doctor could see that the eyestalk was dead. No blue light shone through it. The weapon arm may have been pointing towards the doorway, but it was ineffectually aimed at the floor. Multi-colured wires sprouted from between the holes in its headpiece. They seemed to be connected to some sort of large and complex apparatus standing against one of the walls of the room.

The room itself was fairly small, but with room enough for a couple of desks. The desks had surveillance equipment mounted on them. The Doctor warily walked up to the Dalek. He cautiously waved his hand in front of its single eyepiece. Nothing. The Dalek stayed immobile.

"Just because a Dalek appears dead, Margatha, doesn't make it so." The Doctor said grimly. "I've seen them come back to life with just the touch of a hand."

"It is gone, Doctor." Margatha told him, standing with her arms folded and a smug look on her face. "We removed the...thing, that was inside it. Right down to the most minute bit of DNA. I assure you, it is quite dead and gone. What you see is only the empty shell. We are using some of the technology contained inside the casing to boost the power of the shielding output."

Tentatively, the Doctor reached out his hand. He waggled the Dalek's sucker arm. Raising an eyebrow, he wiggled the weapon arm. Cupping his hands, he leaned over to the side of the domed metallic head, and shouted, "Doctor to Dalek Boy, Doctor to Dalek Boy, come in, Dalek boy!"

The Dalek stood silent, like a sci-fi display in some anorak's front hall. The Doctor tried again, this time talking like a southern American trucker from the seventies: "Breaker Breaker, this here's the Oncomin' Storm givin' a shout out to the Dalekmeister. Ya'll got yer ears on, good buddy?"

The Doctor stepped back, still waiting for some kind of reaction. Yet, the Dalek remained motionless. Grinning broadly, he leaned over and planted a big wet kiss on its eyestalk. .

"Well put a tack in my shoe and call me 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'." He said. Then winced. "On second thought, don't do that. That would be very painful. Not the name. I like the name. And the song. It's very cool. It's the whole sharp object in the foot thing that I object to..."

"Doctor," Amy interrupted, tugging on the sleeve of his jacket to get his attention, "much as I'd hate to stop you from playing with the Dalek, and from explaining how you hate having a tack in your shoe, but, erm—shouldn't we be working on getting that shield thingy up and running?"

"Yeah, spot on Amy, that's the ticket. Focus. Priorities. What'd I ever do without you?." The Doctor murmured distractedly, already standing in front of the machinery, checking out the shielding equipment. "Tell you what, Amy. Why don't you and Margatha here go and spend some quality time together? Swap recipes or fashion tips, discuss hairstyles or your favourite soap stars. Whatever girls do when they get together."

"I didn't realize that aliens could be male chauvinists, too." Amy said, suddenly offended. "Life with you is just one big learning curve, Doctor."

"OK, fine. You guys can talk about football, beer, rock music and big...you-know-what's, all you want, then. If that'll make you happy. Just so long as you do it where you won't distract me, thereby causing me to accidentally destroy not only this entire planet, but all of its related solar system, thereby causing an unstoppable chain reaction which would, at least theoretically, end up destroying the entire universe...including Earth, Amy." He retorted impatiently. He already had out his sonic and was examining the wires leading from the Dalek to the machine.

"What? And simply leave you here?" Amy protested.

"I don't think I should..." Margatha said at the same time, looking warily at the Doctor.

"Will you for once just do as I say?" The Doctor griped at them. He was bent down fiddling with some wires. "This is very complex scientificky, timey-wimey stuff you two, and even though I am a Time Lord and a genius, I still will need every ounce of my concentration to get this thing operational."

"Alrighty then." said a not especially chastised Amy, resentfully walking out into the hall with Margatha. Amy's only consolation was that her new-found companion didn't look any happier.

Amy walked beside the alien, as she stalked down the hall a short way in a huff. "Hey there, Margatha. Um—I don't know about you, but football really isn't my thing. Most beer tastes the same to me, and we're so not discussing these..." Amy pointed at her chest. "Which, in the world according to the Doctor, leaves us with the conversational topics of rock music and girl talk. So, I was wondering. Is wearing dreadlocks the current fad with your people, or is that like, your natural hair..."

Deeper and deeper into the heart of the complex, Rory and River Song went. Despite his age, Altaar quickly led the way down a maze of stairs and corridors. They were grimy and steamy, and only dimly lit with yellow and purple lights.

"This place looks deserted. Where is everyone?" Rory asked River.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" River responded, nodding towards the alien man.

"I..." Rory shrugged.

River sighed, then called out to the old man. "Altaar dear, Rory wants to know where everyone is."

"Er—just down here a little ways, my dear." Altaar said, after some slight hesitation.

He pointed towards a dark section of corridor, just before it made another turn. Eyes suddenly wary, River's hand automatically rested on the gun butt protruding from her hip holster.

"I've suddenly got a really bad feeling about this." Rory hissed at River. "Definitely getting the idea that maybe we should've stayed with the Doctor and Amy."

"Maybe I should have stayed at that pub in Glasgow." River whispered back. "Then you and Amy wouldn't be in any danger right now."

"So why did you come here, then?"

"Wimbledon was rained out." She shrugged.

"Come on River, 'fess up! You just like the danger. You're every bit as bad as the Doctor, you know." Rory smiled.

"Oh I do hope so." She smiled back at him.

As they got closer to the dark place, River held out her hand to hold Rory back. Altaar seemed to dither, as he waved them on towards the unlit corner of the corridor. There was a noise, a slight whirring sound. River stopped Rory and motioned for him to be quiet. Stepping in front of him, she drew her pistol.

At that very moment, with a high pitched whine, a beam of green light shot out of the darkness and enveloped River. She cried out and collapsed in a heap on the concrete floor. Rory yelled River's name in fear and dismay, dropping to his knees by her side. As he reached for her pistol, the same beam got him as well, and he too, cried out and fell next to River's still body.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Margatha?" Amy asked, as she followed the pacing alien woman up and down the corridor outside the security office, "Why does Altaar have trouble pronouncing the Doctor's name? You don't seem to have that problem. Did he have a stroke or something?"

"I have sometimes thought of that, myself." She confided. In the past twenty minutes, Margatha had begun to almost like this human. Too bad Amy was a friend of the Doctor's.

There were few Temporals left whom were close to her own age. It felt nice to talk about trivial matters with someone who could relate to such things. Mostly, when she was forced to mix in social settings, she could not speak openly. Like others of her race, she was committed to obey the stiff and restrictive rules of polite conversation, which those of Altaar's generation imposed on everyone. That is, if she wished to keep her highly prized position as his personal aide.

Margatha's thoughts turned to Altaar. She'd been his aide for several months now, but still felt like she hardly knew him. Though a friend of her late father's, Margatha had never met him until after the Howling had taken her family. Altaar was like some elderly relation one heard spoken of in the family, that no one had seen in years, who suddenly popped in for a long visit.

"He has no speech impediment that I'm aware of, Amy. It is only the Doctor's name he has difficulty speaking. Perhaps, it is some mental defect? Before the Howling came, I was studying inter-species psychology at university. He might have difficulty saying the name out of some unconscious fear. Or, it could be that Altaar hates the Doctor so much, he can hardly speak his name. Well I know that kind of hate."

"Why do you hate the Doctor? You've never even met him until he came here." Amy asked her.

"At the Doctor's bidding, the Time Lord's took my ancestors and stranded them on a primitive planet. The home of the Howling. How we awakened it, I do not know. The Howling took my family. At university that day, they canceled all classes. I stood with all my classmates in front of the vid-screen in the dining hall and watched everyone in my village die. My family, my neighbours, my friends. Nearly everyone I knew. And none of this would've happened if the Doctor had just turned his back and walked away." Margatha said bitterly, grinding her fist into her other hand. 

"Maybe not. If the Doctor's right about what they tried to do, then none of us would exist now, because your ancestors tried to destroy time." Amy reasoned.

"Altaar says it was just a few rebellious young Temporal's who were causing the trouble, and that the Inner Council would've stopped them without the Time Lord's interference."

"Hold on." Amy said, stopping in mid-stride. "If Altaar hates the Doctor so much, then why..."

"Farrrr—out!" Came the Doctor's highly excited voice from the security room. "By George, John, Paul and Ringo, I think I've finally got it!"

Amy and Margatha scooted into the room to see what the Doctor was on about. He was kneeling on the floor, the sonic screwdriver in his mouth, and a handful of delicate looking multi-colured wires dangling in his right hand, and a single, thicker wire leading from the Dalek shell in his left. The door to the shielding machinery was open, and that's where the delicate wires came from. There were desks pushed aside, a chair was tipped over and papers were scattered everywhere.

"What's going on?" Margatha asked.

"I'm really glad I'm not the janitor here." Amy said, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed, eyeballing the disorderly room. "You know, Doctor. You should have someone walking behind you, with a bin and a broom, like they do after the horses have gone past in a parade."

"Quiet, Amy. I'm about to connect the sub-binary coaxial cable to the multi-dimensional stabilizer circuits, thereby reversing the polarity of the neutron flow into the main shield core. Very delicate operation."

"Er—right." Amy nodded wisely, not having a clue what the Doctor was on about.

"That should not only get the shielding back online, it should also increase its strength and range by...um—quite a lot." The Doctor flashed her a wild grin. "Wasn't sure I could manage this...actually, still not sure, but you can't have coffee without grinding a few beans, ey? I just need to patch a couple of these wires into the cable, and Bobs yer uncle. I mean, if you have an uncle named Bob. Do you have an uncle named Bob, Amy? We once knew an angel named Bob, didn't we? Oh, and you both might want to stand back a ways. About five hundred yards ought to do it."

"And all that technobabble you just spouted means what, exactly?" Amy asked curiously.

"Either I'll get the shielding up and running, or there'll be one helluva' big bang." The Doctor shrugged.

"But, if it explodes you'll be instantly vaporized!" Margatha said.

"There you are, Margatha. Always looking on the bright side of things." He shrugged again. "Good thing I've got a great life insurance policy, then. Tailor's and Undertaker's Insurance Agency. With them, I'm completely covered."

"Doctor, about Altaar. I'm not so sure you should..." Amy started to say, then looked down at the floor with a puzzled expression. Why was the floor vibrating?

Without warning, the walls began shaking. Ceiling tiles fell and sparks began to fly from the overhead lighting fixtures. White smoke began to seep through the room. The Doctor looked up at the ceiling.

"Knock-knock!" He said.

"What's going on, Doctor?" Amy shouted.

"Take your pick, Amy. A. I was about to tell a joke, or B., the Howling is paying us a visit."

"We're doomed!" Margatha cried out hoarsely, backing away and cowering into a corner.

"That's the spirit!" The Doctor called out to her., as his fingers nimbly sorted delicate wires, looking for the right one's. "Though I was rather expecting you to scream and say '_We're all going to die_!' So four points there for originality."

As the shaking became more violent, the Doctor worked frantically to get the wires and cable hooked up. Dancing and dodging falling debris like a whirling dervish, he suddenly jammed the end of the cable into a coupling inside the shielding apparatus. With a loud humming noise and a flashing of lights, the machine sprang to life. Abruptly, the shaking stopped.

"Is—is it gone?" Margatha whimpered. She was knelt down beside a fallen desk chair, glancing around nervously. Amy bent down and helped the young alien woman to her feet.

"It's OK, it's OK, Margatha." She said softly, "We're safe." She looked compassionately into the woman's eyes, realizing for the first time that Margatha was young to have seen so much death.

"Safe? Safe!" The Doctor spluttered. "I'll have you know that is one of the most boring and overused four-letter words in the English language. Well, that and Fu—"

"Frustrating! That's what you can be sometimes, Doctor!" Amy interrupted. "The thing is, though, we _are_ alright for the moment, aren't we?" She said pointedly, her arms around Margatha, staring down the Doctor, mentally willing him to to be more understanding of the young woman's fears.

"There's only one way to find out. And that's to have a look outside." The Doctor suggested mildly, for once taking the hint. He nodded towards a bank of video monitors. "Come on, Margatha." He said, holding out his hand and gently guiding her over to the surveillance station. " Let's see if this worked."

The Doctor punched up a picture of the planet's barren surface outside. There was the Howling, throwing itself ineffectually against the green glowing shielding protecting the dome. The roiling tornado tilted itself back and hovered a short way away from the dome, as if puzzled by this new development.

Then, out of the blue, the image went black. In its place, a somewhat contrasting one came over the screen. It was another view of the landscape outside the protective dome of the mining complex. Only, this one was markedly different.

In the image on the screen were two space suited figures. They were sitting on the stony floor of a small valley, with their backs propped up against a large boulder. The pair were bound with ropes and one seemed to be struggling to get free. This new camera angle was suddenly zoomed in on a close up on the helmeted faces of the two. Amy gasped. It was Rory and River Song.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The camera zoomed away from the close ups of River and Rory, and panned to the left. There in the not so far distance was the mining company's dome, with the raging Howling stirring up the dust nearby.

"Oh my god, Rory! River!" Amy shouted at the screen. She threw him a panicked look. "Doctor, we have to get them out of there before that thing notices them!"

"Thank you very much for stating the obvious, Amy." he responded politely. "Question is, why are they tied up in the first place, hmmm—? Write on one side of the paper only. Extra credit Margatha, if you can tell me what's really going on here. Though I have the nasty feeling we're about to find out."

As if on cue, Altaar's image appeared on screen, in what appeared to be a small room with stark barren walls He was flanked by four Daleks. Only, he didn't at all appeared to be alarmed by their presence. Instead, Altaar gave the Doctor a huge, satisfied smirk.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Oncoming Storm." Altaar sneered childishly. "That is what the Daleks call you, isn't it? The all powerful, incorruptible, unstoppable Time Lord." He paused and made a rude noise. "Got that shielding to work, did you? Too bad. I had hoped that by killing off all of our tech support, it would allow the Howling to do its work. Oh dear. Now it'll have to be satisfied with just your friends, won't it? Tsk-tsk. What a shame. Of course, if it doesn't take your friends, I can always use this." He said, holding up a lethal looking proton rifle.

The Doctor didn't stir. He only mutely stared at the video screen, his face dark with anger.

"Aw, what's the matter, Doctor? Can't think of any clever banter to spout at me?" Altaar baited him.

"Clever remarks would be wasted on you, Altaar. But, if you insist." The Doctor shrugged, then leaned in towards the video camera and said, "The only difference between you and and every other idiot, is that you've got a gun in your hands."

"Ah. That's more like it." Altaar laughed.

"_You_ killed them, Altaar? But...I saw it, it was the Howling. How was that your fault?" Margatha said.

"Who do you think controls the Howling, girl? Do you really believe that this creature has followed us from planet to planet, all the way back to normal space, merely on a whim? The deaths today, like all the deaths before them, were simply collateral damage. Bah! Why am I wasting my breath on you? You're too young to understand about such things." Altaar told her dismissively.

"Oh there we go, there's the Overlords I used to know. I see you people haven't changed much after all, Altaar. One minute you're all group hugs and sharing cake recipes, then suddenly it's pass around the knives and look out behind you, Caesar." The Doctor scowled.

"Your face and body may have changed Doc-tor, but your hide-bound Prydonian morals haven't." He replied, "Still playing the hero. But I played with you, this time. You've become such a puppet to my whims, you might has well have strings attached."

The Doctor opened his mouth to replay, but Amy had other ideas. "Look, this insult fest may be a big turn-on for you Doctor. But, what I want to know is, how do we get Rory and River back?"

"They're not coming back, girl." Altaar told her. "No one is."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amy asked warily.

"I think he means he's willing to commit to the genocide of his own people, just to get at me." The Doctor spat out angrily. "Isn't that right, Altaar?"

"You're not going to chastise me for that, you hypocrite!" Altaar snorted. "You killed off your people to get rid of the Daleks. I'm killing mine to get rid of you. You're no different than I am. Our race was a noble one, we could have been the absolute rulers of time. Before you came along. You may have prevented our annihilation by the Galifrey High Council, but you destroyed us, nonetheless."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "That's rich, Altaar. Might I remind you, that before your ancestors decided to destroy everything in existence, the worst problem they had was Uncombable Hair Syndrome."

"Have a care, Doc-tor. You've killed countless of times, then ran away in your TARDIS at the first opportunity. How are you different than I, Time Lord?"

"The difference between me and you, Ataar, is that I didn't want to kill. I only had two choices, both of them bad. I had to choose, twice, whether to let my people live as the only species in existence, or to stop the destruction of time and save every other life form that ever existed. And I live with that decision every day. And it hurts, Altaar. When my people died, a part of me died with them. You kill, because you've become so self-absorbed, you don't have the mind or character to care about anyone else any longer."

"I care about the honour and pride of my people! Which you stripped from us when you took away our technology. We could have ruled the entire cosmos, if not for you!" Altaar thundered.

"The Temporal Overlords were brilliant. They could have been so special in the universe." The Doctor shook his head sadly. "Instead,. They chose not to see outside themselves, but to blindly forge ahead with their plans irregardless of everything else. They'd lost the courage to care, I suppose. Because it's easier, isn't it? No effort involved with not caring. Just do whatever the hell you please and damn the consequences to others. Go on and pootle through your lives, sheep-brained, obtuse to all other life around you. Which is really sad. Because you miss out on so much, that way. In the end though, your people were hoist by their own petard. Because they lacked the courage to feel any responsibility for their actions. And that, Altaar, was the true cause of their downfall "

"You did this to us, Doc-tor. I hate you with all my hearts. I've hated you for twelve hundred years. I've watched our once-great civilzation slowly die. My people are not much better than cattle, now. Or humans."

"Oy!" Amy protested.

"You alone were responsible for our downfall. The Time Lords were too weak to go after us themselves. If you hadn't of interfered, we would have become the most powerful beings in the universe." Altaar spat out angrily.

" It was only after the Temporal Overlords decided to pursue their own self-serving desires—and got twigged for it, that they were forced to face the consequences of their actions." The Doctor answered. "Let the chips fall where they lie, Altaar. I'm not your mother. I'm not picking up after the mess you lot made of things. You got a second chance from me. That's something I don't do, any longer. So consider this the first and only warning: Stop this. I mean, right now. Just back up the lorry and find an alternate route. Preferably a nice, peaceful one. I recommend a pleasant little drive through the Gower Pennisula. Lovely bit of road, that."

"How very self-righteous." Altaar sniffed. "I'm sure that last little monologue will be a nice addition to your biography."

"Listen to me. I'm asking you nicely this time. Let everyone go. Please. You've got me. You don't need them. I do whatever you want, just leave my friends and the rest of your people alone." The Doctor pleaded, aware that he was trying to reason with an unreasonable, and not especially sane, man.

"Hmmm—let me think about it..." Altaar said sarcastically, tapping his chin with the end of the proton rifle.

"Would you like to be alone with your thought?" The Doctor asked dryly, guessing what Altaar's answer would be.

"Before the sun sets, everyone on this planet is going to die, Doctor. Including me." Altaar said triumphantly. Behind him, the Doctor heard Margatha gasp with shock, but he kept his eyes on Altaar. "And if the Howling doesn't get you, my little Dalek pets here, will."

"They don't obey orders from other species. Not even their own creator, Davros." The Doctor said, staring hard now at the quartet of Daleks.

"This lot will obey my every order, Doctor. I took out everything inside that was Dalek, and turned these things into my own personal robot army. Complete with the original weaponry."

"You should know better than to tinker with Daleks, Altaar. Next to me, they may be one of the cleverest species in the universe."

"You know, I'd really like to continue this conversation with you, Doctor...oh, who am I kidding?" Altaar laughed. "No I wouldn't. And now, I think I'll introduce the Howling to those two out there. I want you to suffer, Doctor. As I and my people have suffered for countless generations. I want to to watch your friends die."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Amy watched the monitor screen with mounting horror, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the back of the chair the Doctor had suddenly sat in. His fingers were rapidly tapping the keys of a computer terminal. In the background, came the laughter of Altaar, as the Howling suddenly stilled itself. The whirlwind shrank. Now looking almost like some sort of perverted three-meter high dust devil, the black, green and purple mass slowly and inexorably turned. It moved ponderously towards River and Rory.

"However I may feel about you, I'm sorry about your friends, Doctor." Margatha told him sadly. "Altaar has gone mad."

"You know, Altaar, I'm finding all of this gloating a tad dull. You are a very boring man. Well, you're a politician, you would be. Thing is, I don't like being around boring people. So take a hike " The Doctor said, as he turned off the two-way audio link.

"Why are you just sitting there, Doctor?" Amy asked, near tears. "Why don't you do something?"

"I am doing something, Amy." The Doctor said, as he continued to type away.

"What are you doing?" She said.

"Guess!" He answered cryptically.

"I...dunno." Amy shrugged.

"OK. Then take a guess and say, 'a_re you trying to attract the creature back to the underground complex'_?"

"You're trying to bring the Howling back here, Doctor?" Amy asked, not sure she liked that sound of that.

"Bingo!" The Doctor smiled. "I've taken down the deflective barrier, and am inserting a positive binary transonic feedback loop into the public address tannoy. The vibrations should attract the Howling, and get away from River and Rory. For a while, anyway.

"Are you sure that will work?" Amy said, stepping back to watch the now-silent screen. It showed the Howling. Slowly, as if trying to scent its prey, it was moving towards the two distant space-suited figures sitting motionless under the rocks.

"But...what about us?" Margatha asked, hand clutching at her throat in sudden terror.

"Meh." The Doctor smiled, swiveling around in his chair to grin at the two women. "I'm never sure of anything. How hum-drum would my life be if I knew everything?" He made a face. "Bleh!" Then, he stood, straightening his bow tie. "As soon as I link this up though, we'll have about ten minutes to make it back to the TARDIS, before the Howling devours this entire complex."

"When will that be?" Amy asked.

"I'd say..." He paused for dramatic effect, "Right about..." His finger hovered over a single key on the computer keyboard. "Now!" He smiled, as his finger stabbed the key. "OK everyone...run for your life!"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

On the surface of the planet, River continued to try undoing the bonds confining her to the boulder. She kept her eyes peeled on the ugly whirling maelstrom that was the Howling. Not all that far away, stood an old mining transport. It resembled an oversize troop carrier, with big windows in the front. It was covered in rusty metal, and operated on caterpillar tracks, like a tank or a bulldozer. The machine was big, bigger than a motor caravan, but smaller than your average low budget holiday cottage.

On board, was Altaar and his Dalek robots. Since he was somehow was able to control the Howling, Altaar had little to fear from it. River was fairly certain he was there to ensure that they died. If not by the Howling, than by Dalek death ray.

Rory, as usual, wasn't happy. Through the left side of her helmet, River could just about make out Rory grumbling about death by wind.

"Look at it this way, sweetie", she said with mock cheerfulness, shouting at him through her helmet. "At least with the Howling it'll be quick. Much better than death by Slugwort. Takes them as much as fifty years to fully digest you."

"Erm—not exactly talking about that kind of wind, River." She heard him whinge. "Knew I shouldn't have had a curry for lunch. Don't these spacesuits come with any ventilation?"

River couldn't help but grin. Yet, her smile abruptly faded as she spied the Howling turning, shifting its now more compact bulk directly towards them. It had stopped trying to attack the structure where the Doctor and the others were. She supposed that meant that the Doctor had successfully managed to get the shielding to work. The problem was, that Altaar was apparently going transfer all of his anger at the Doctor towards the two of them.

"Why is Altaar doing this?" She heard Rory shout. "I mean, what did we ever do to him?"

River told him she guessed the man was a bit beyond the benefits of a good psycho-analyst.

"You mean he's doolally." Rory snorted. Yes. I kind of noticed that, River."

"As the Doctor always told me, Rory, you can't reason with the unreasonable." River nodded. "Altaar's kid's meal isn't only shy a few chips and a beverage, it's missing the cool toy as well." Smiling, she added coyly, "Which is a shame. Because I do like a man with a nice..._toy_"

"Ah, not quite sure how to follow that." Rory said. He was thankful she couldn't see him blushing.

"You're blushing, aren't you?"

"Who? Me? Not blinking likely! Men don't blush. No, River. I am most definitely not blu—" he heard her clear her throat pointedly. "...oh alright, yeah. I am. Don't tell Amy though, OK? She'd never let me hear the end of it. If we get out of this alive, I mean. Er—obviously." Rory said.

She glanced nervously at Rory. He was wriggling around, also trying to loosen the thin steel cables which kept his back firmly pressed up against the large rock. Like herself, he didn't seem to be having much success. Then, River saw him suddenly go completely still.

"Wait." He shouted. "I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"I think, if I push hard enough with my feet, I can shift this whole rock backwards." Rory told her. "Then these cables may loosen enough so I can get free."

"Or, alternately, you may end up facing your death bum first." River reasoned.

"Oh. Right. Never thought of it that way." Rory paused briefly and gave it some thought. "That would be very undignified, wouldn't it?"

Suddenly, the two of them saw the Howling turn back towards the main building. In a heartbeat, it once again elongated and grew taller. As it did so, the whirling winds that made up the Howling grew perceptibly stronger. The two of them could only watch as the Howling charged the old mining headquarters. Like a conjurer's trick, the building was instantly engulfed by the creature. Then, it was gone. Leaving nothing but a rising, churning cloud of dust and stones behind.

"Oh my God!" River gasped.

"No! Amy!" Rory screamed. "No! Doctor, what have you done? Not Amy!"

"They're gone, Rory. And I am so very sorry. Just know that if the Doctor couldn't save her, then there was nothing anyone could do." Were all the words a distraught River could find to say to him. She wished she could say all the things she wanted to. But there was that whole spoilers thing getting in the way again.

"The Doctor was supposed to protect her. He was supposed to take us home, after this. For her mum's birthday. Oh God, oh god, oh, god." He groaned. "What am I going to tell her mum? What am I saying? How the hell am I even going to get home now, _to_ tell them?"

"Rory. We're still alive. You and me. Just focus on that." River said quietly.

She looked at the empty place where the building had been. The Howling had shrunk again, whirling over the dust as if unsure what to do next. And so, for once, was River. She felt lost all of the sudden, am emotion she hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

A tear fell from her eye, as River said softly, "The best man I've ever known is gone."

"Actually, no. Not gone. I'm standing right behind you." Came the Doctor's somewhat muffled voice from behind River's boulder. "Don't turn around! I don't want Altaar to know we've escaped...at least, not yet, anyway.."

"Oh, I hate you sometimes!" River said.

"You don't. But I do like you're persistence in saying that. Shows spunk." The Doctor told her.

"Spunk?" River said.

"Never mind that, Doctor." Rory interrupted. "Where's Amy? Is she alright?"

"She's fine. She's safe, Rory. Amy is in the TARDIS, keeping an eye on Margatha."

The Doctor had managed to sonic off the bonds that held them to the rock. But, he frowned when he realized that their feet were manacled together. That meant he was going to have to reveal his presence sooner than he wished to. It wouldn't give them much time to sprint away to the TARDIS. It was parked behind the rock formation, beyond the eyes and ears of Ataar and his Robo-Daleks.

"Spunk?" River repeated indignantly.

"Move on, River. No time for that now. Things to do, you know how it is. Busy, busy me." The Doctor told her, as he cautiously scuttled forward, crouched low so not to attract any attention—though that might be hard, seeing as was now in plain sight.

Squatting in the dirt, he aimed the sonic at River's manacles. He was wearing his old red space suit and a battered yellow helmet. It was taking longer than normal to operate the sonic screwdriver, due to the heavy black gloves he was wearing. Even so, he continued babbling on as he worked. As if they were all hanging out at the beach, instead of being hunted down by a madman.

"You know, sometimes I feel like an outer space fireman. Always having to save somebody. I once had to save Lana Turner. She was having trouble breathing while we were dancing one night at the Copa del Rio Club. The poor woman nearly passed out."

Despite their pending doom at the hands of the Howling or Altaar's Daleks, Rory found himself asking the Doctor, "What happened?"

"Oh, she finally slipped out of it." He paused, shifting over from River to Rory, to sonic his manacles. "Turned out her girdle was too tight."

Rory rolled his eyes. Leave it to the Doctor to make bad jokes at a time like this. And he fell for it. River smirked. She'd known there was a punchline in there, somewhere. The more dire a situation was, the worse the Doctor's joke's got.

"Doctor, much as I hate to interrupt this _fascinating_ conversation, I think we may be having some company." River informed him.

"Well isn't that typical! Always someone self-important little busy-body coming along, trying to cut into a private conversation. Don't you hate when that happens at dinner parties? Next thing you know, Altaar will be showing us pictures of his kids and bragging about his new sports car." The Doctor grumbled. He too, had spied the mining transport rumbling towards them.

As Rory's manacle sprang free, the transport came up to around ten meters from the rock formation. Unable to go further, in powered down. A minute later, the loading ramp came slamming down, sending up yet another cloud of dust. Down the ramp came the three robot Daleks. Though their eyestalks were dead, it didn't matter that they couldn't see. Altaar was sitting there, looking through the transports' front window, holding the control device.

The Doctor stared at what he came to call the robo-Daleks. Even lifeless, they still made him shudder with dread. No matter how many times he'd faced them down and defeated them, they would always haunt his nightmares.

The four Daleks came towards the three of them. As they did so, their weapon arms were raised.

"Into the rocks!" The Doctor shouted. "We've got to get to the TARDIS. Now shift!"

River and Rory sprinted for the jumble of boulders and the low rock formation. Yet, even as they did so, two of the Daleks sent their death rays towards the rocks. River was pushing Rory ahead of her, when she heard the Doctor grunt with pain. Looking behind her she cried out the Doctor's name. He was lying face down in the dust and stones.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

River was about to turn back to help the Doctor, but Rory forcefully dragged her down. She was all set to tackle him, when another blast from a Dalek gun sent them both ducking for cover.

"Listen. River. Calm down and listen. I want to help him, too. Do you think I don't?" Rory tried to reason with her. "But we can't. Look, the Doctor has risked his life to save us. The best thing we can do for him now, is to not make his efforts pointless. We have to get to the TARDIS. Then, when we're safe, we can rescue the Doctor."

Glaring at him, River wanted to tell him how wrong he was. Instead, she sighed. She knew that Rory was right. The Doctor lay perfectly still, his helmeted face plastered to the dusty surface of the planet. There was no way to tell if he was dead or alive.

"Alright, Rory." She agreed reluctantly. "The Doctor said the TARDIS was over behind these rocks. Altaar is controlling those Daleks. What we need is some way to distract him."

"I think I can handle that." Came a voice from behind the rocks.

"Margatha! What are you doing here?" Rory asked. "I thought the Doctor told you and Amy to stay in the TARDIS?"

The young alien woman scooted over to them on her hands and knees, narrowly missing a Dalek laser ray. She was suited up in an old fashioned silvery earth space suit. Strangely, it had Russian wording on it and a shoulder patch that read USSR. She appeared to be weaponless.

"How are you going to distract him? You don't even have a weapon. Altaar's gone completely off his nut. I mean, there should be men in white coats hauling him off to the Priory." Rory said to her. "He'll probably have those Daleks shoot you dead, as soon as you show your face."

As if to prove her point, the Dalek robots started putting up a searching fire along the rocks and boulders. Bright flashes of light sent rock chips flying in all directions. River prayed that none of this shrapnel would penetrate their space suits. That would kill them just as certainly as a death ray would.

"I found this space suit in the TARDIS wardrobe. I told Amy I was going to find the kitchen to get something to drink. Then I put the suit on, and ducked out when she went looking for me." Margatha told him. "When I go, you run for the rocks. The TARDIS is less than two minute's run from here. You just have to get around that big boulder over there." She pointed past the rock she'd just come from behind. Get ready to run. There won't be more than a few seconds I can buy you."

"Margatha, please. We can find another way." River pleaded, "Don't..."

Before River could say anymore, the alien girl jumped up from her place and ran a zig-zag pattern towards Altaar's transport. Rory barely had time to register this, when River grabbed him and headed for the rocks. Momentarily, the robotic Daleks halted their searching fire, as Altaar noticed the young woman. Then without warning, one of the robot Daleks swiveled in Margatha's direction. In the blink of an eye, it zapped her. Stopped in her tracks, she gave a silent scream and flung out her hands, as her bare skull glowed in green X-ray vision, through the visor of the spacesuit.

"No!" Rory shouted, trying to twist out of River's grasp.

"Rory. Remember what you just told me about the Doctor?" River said gently, as they ran around the large boulder.

"Yeah. I know." He panted. "One good thing. With this rocky ground, those Daleks won't be able to get at us."

Rory noticed his visor was steaming up. So was River's. That wasn't good. They had to get to the TARDIS while they could still see properly. Obviously these suits weren't intended for track and field events. The Daleks were once again in hot pursuit. One had even begun levitating, to find them over the rocks.

"Oh look. It can fly. Got any bright ideas, River? Cos if you do, I'm all ears." Rory sighed. "No. Don't even think about it.." He added, as he saw the smirk on her face.

"Spoil sport." She sighed.

Just as the Dalek was about to rise over the rocks and get them in its sights, they spied the TARDIS. Putting on some extra steam, despite their bulky space suits, Rory and River just about made it to the ship. Meanwhile, another Dalek was approaching the Doctor's enert form. It stood over the Doctor's body, as if it were gloating. All of the sudden, it began to speak. Its voice was a distorted version of Altaar's. He was using the Dalek's speech modulator to talk to the Doctor.

"I've waited so long, Doctor. So very, very long. It took decades to train the Howling to obey my will. And no one ever suspected. You know Doctor, we're so alike, in so many ways. The last of our kind. By our own hands. It's almost a shame to have to do away with you. Oh, but I have to admit. I can't help myself. Killing you will be such a pleasure. The universe will revere me as the man who did away with the last Time Lord." Altaar said.

"You know, Altaar. I'd like to say something really witty and sarcastic right now, but the situation is just too pathetic." Said the Doctor. He slowly sat up, shaking his head groggily. "Look at you. You could have been brilliant. But, really. Us, alike? My people died because I had no choice. They were going to destroy everything that ever existed in time and space. But you? You butchered your people for one selfish purpose. To get at me. And that really makes me very angry."

Slowly, the Doctor stood up. His face was dark, and his eyes were smoldering. His fists were clenched. He ignored the Dalek and looked over at the transport vehicle.

"Enough with the idle chit-chat. Time to die, Time Lord." Came Altaar's satisfied voice.

The Dalek raised its weapon arm. The Doctor stepped back...just as the dust in front of him began to swirl. A grinding noise rent the air, as the TARDIS materialized. Right on top of the Dalek, flattening it. Then, the door opened, and the Doctor quickly ducked inside. He smiled tiredly at Amy and Rory, pleased to see that they were unharmed. Their helmets off, the two of them stood beside the Doctor, happy to be reunited with him.

River was standing by the TARDIS controls. The Doctor went and looked the console over critically.

"You know, River. There are times I do wish my future self hadn't given you TARDIS flying lessons. But," He grinned at her. "This isn't one of them. Thank you."

Inside the transport, Altaar let out a frustrated cry. He instantly summoned the Howling. If his Daleks couldn't get at the Doctor, the Howling would. It would consume the TARDIS and everyone inside it.

Within seconds, the whirling, bloated purple and green cloud came to its master's call. It headed straight for the Doctor's ship. Yet, all of the sudden, it came to a grinding halt, as overhead, another funnel cloud developed. This one was nearly invisible though, except for particles of dust it disturbed underneath it. It was inverted in shape. Like an upside down tornado. Dust from the surface began to be sucked up into the reverse vortex. Then, the Howling disappeared into it. The unusual tornado moved on to Daleks, then the mining transport. In seconds, they too, had disappeared.

As quickly as it had come, the inverted tornado vanished. Leaving nothing but the barren planet behind.

"What happened?" Amy said, watching it all on her monitor screen. "What was that thing?"

"We had to wear spacesuits because it's a vacuum out there, Amy. I merely changed the atmospheric density and ramped up the air pressure in one specific spacial ." The Doctor told her.

"And all that means what, exactly, Doctor?" Rory asked.

"I just invented the universe's biggest Hoover. As they were sucked into the vacuum, the Daleks and Altaar's ship were automatically consumed by the Howling. Then I made it go away. I sent the Howling to a remote part of uninhabited space, where it can exist without harming anyone."

"But why didn't you destroy the Howling?" A puzzled Amy asked.

"I think maybe cos there's been enough death today. Right, Doctor?" Rory asked softly, as he put his arms around his wife.

"Yes." The Doctor said, his eyes suddenly ancient and sad. "I had to save somebody. It's not the Howling's fault it killed so many. It was only doing what it was trained for. After all, it's a unique life form. Only marginally sentient, though. I doubt it really understood what it was doing. It was just obeying its natural instincts. And, I thought the Howling deserved its freedom."

"Doctor. I'm so sorry about Margatha." Amy said miserably. "If I'd only known, I would've stopped her."

"Stop it. You couldn't have known, Amy." River spoke up, walking up to Amy. "None of us did. Rory and I couldn't stop her either."

The Doctor had already shed his spacesuit and was busy working the TARDIS' controls.

"OK, we're all set." He said loudly, smiling at his friends. As if wanting to put everything behind him and move on. "River? Where can I drop you?"

"Oh, I might as well go back to prison. It's getting too dull around here for my taste." River told him. Then added, "But first, maybe a little side trip to Studio 54, say, circa 1976? I'd love to meet John Travolta!'


End file.
